Ph.D. in Special Education at KU

This specialization focuses on the intersecting oppressions of disability, race, ethnicity, social class, language, gender, and sexuality in education and society. It will prepare students to evaluate, synthesize, and conduct research on and teach about two lines of social injustice. The first line is the historic oppression of people with disabilities in education and other social institutions, the primary sites where difference is constructed as disability and disability is excluded or segregated and controlled. Here, we are concerned with interdisciplinary theory and research that illuminates institutional and political processes, including those of disability oppression and prejudice, the social construction of disability and normalcy, the role of social movements in advancing disability rights and equity, the politics of actualizing rights in the offending institutions, and the application of interdisciplinary theoretical and empirical knowledge of disability oppression, construction, and movements to the identification and resolution of moral and ethical disability dilemmas. The second line of oppression is at the intersection of the social categories of disability, race, ethnicity, social class, language, gender, and sexuality. Students’ research and teaching focuses on educational and social injustices that result from these intersections. Additionally, the focus is on how such oppressions are perpetrated by the biased use of disability and special education, including educational policies and practices that produce persistent patterns of racial/ethnic, class, language, and gender in special education referral and identification, disability classification, instructional placement, teaching, behavior management, and transition practices.

Specialization faculty

This specialization focuses on advancing equitable, inclusive, and effective intervention/instruction in early childhood/early childhood special education. Specialization priorities also include the importance of families; strengths-based perspectives, theoretical and methodological pluralism; diversity and cultural/linguistic responsiveness; and addressing persistent, complex educational and social problems in early childhood/early childhood special education. This specialization will assist doctoral students in acquiring foundational knowledge of the current evidence and trends in the field for providing effective early intervention (birth-3 years old) and education (3-8 years old) for each and every young child and their families including those with developmental delays and identified disabilities. Doctoral students are prepared to effectively and successfully serve as Early Childhood/Early Childhood Special Education leaders in the field including faculty in institutions of higher education engaged in research (conducted through a variety of methodologies; disseminated through various outlets), personnel preparation and teaching (implemented through various instructional approaches and modalities), and service (performed at organization and institution, local, national, and international levels).

Specialization faculty

This specialization focuses on evidenced-based practices and strategies in tiered systems of support – specifically Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-tiered (Ci3T) models of prevention – for students with intensive, academic, behavior, and social needs, especially those with emotional and behavioral disorders, autism, and severe learning disabilities, and those without identified disabilities. This specialization will develop the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to (a) carry out an active and innovative research agenda; (b) use systematic screening tools to detect and assist students for whom Tier 1 practices are insufficient ; (c) design, implement, and evaluate strategies and practices to prevent and respond to academic, behavior, and social challenges with attention to procedural fidelity and intervention adaptation; (d) support collaborative partnerships between general and special educators within the context of tiered systems of support; and (e) serve as recognized leaders with expertise in school-based inquiry to improve academic, behavioral, and social outcomes for students with and at risk for learning, behavior, and/or social support needs. Doctoral students in this program will be prepared to teach in higher education and conduct research in areas such as systematic screening, test construction, and/or intervention studies (using group and single case design methodology) in academic, behavioral, and social domains for students with and without disabilities.

Specialization faculty

This specialization develops leaders focused on supporting learner variability in modern learning environments through instructional design and technology innovations. This specialization develops foundational knowledge and skills necessary to (a) carry out an active and innovative research and development agenda; (b) support the design and implementation of modern learning environments, especially in the area of teacher preparation and k-12 classroom application; and (c) serve as recognized leaders in instructional design and technology as it relates to individuals with disabilities and other diverse learning needs in modern learning environments. Doctoral students in this program study prepare to teach in higher education, and conduct research in areas such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), innovation and adoption technology in learning environments, online and blended learning, gaming and gamification, mobile learning, personalization, augmented and virtual reality, and technology enhanced performance.

Specialization faculty

The Special Education Policy and Systems Studies specialization has an emancipatory focus that questions and seeks to reform oppressive aspects of education and disability policy and practice. Emancipation, through critical theoretical and empirical analysis and democratic participation of those who experience impairment and associated disabilities and those who care for, serve, and advocate for them, is essential because, like all professions, special education can be self-serving in advancing its policy agenda, failing to embrace changes in policies that affect practice, even when they are shown to be inadequate or damaging. With a critical policy perspective, special education can better address interests of those it exists to serve. Further, because special education has been enacted in federal law, it has resulted in a complex web of regulation and performativity that operate alongside but not necessarily as part of the general education system. A policy vantage point allows scholars to explore the justice narratives within education and special education while systems theories help to explain how injustice and oppression are embedded within everyday practice.

Specialization faculty

This specialization develops leaders focused on supporting learners with disabilities—including intellectual disability, autism, and multiple disabilities—who need extensive and pervasive supports to be fully included in school, home, work, and community. The specialization focuses on the intersection of positive psychology and strengths-based approaches to disability, inclusive education, and students with extensive and pervasive support needs. The underlying conceptual elements of the specialization incorporate research and teaching to ensure that learners with extensive and pervasive support needs are provided the supports and experiences in school and the community to promote positive, self-determined, and inclusive experiences. Key areas of the doctoral research and teaching experience include: strengths-based approaches to the education of learners with extensive and pervasive support needs, particularly in the domains of inclusive practices; evidence-based practices that promote high levels of academic achievement; predictors of inclusive education and promoting access to the general education curriculum for learners with extensive and pervasive support needs; and measuring and promoting student self-determination and self-determined learning.

Specialization faculty